Australia retain No. 1 spot in ODI rankings; India slip to 3rd position

Australia have retained their No.1 spot in the ICC Men’s ODI Rankings after the annual update but face strong competition ahead with Pakistan and India on their toes.
Australia improved their rating from 113 to 118 following the annual update, maintaining a slender lead over Pakistan (116 points) and India (115 points).
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC) release, “Prior to the annual rankings update, Australia were at the top with 113 points with India behind them on the decimal count. Pakistan were ranked third, with 112 points and briefly went to the top of the charts after their victory in the fourth ODI against New Zealand this month.”
Pakistan could have stayed at the top of the rankings even after the annual update had they managed to complete a 5-0 clean sweep against New Zealand.
Pakistan, who had grabbed the number one position briefly on 5 May before losing the final ODI of their five-match home series to New Zealand and slipping back behind Australia, are on 116 points, one more than India.
Pakistan would have remained at the top of the ODI rankings even after the annual update had they completed a 5-0 sweep in the series against New Zealand.
An interesting battle at the top of the rankings is imminent in the year of the World Cup as only three points separate Australia, Pakistan and India, who are comfortably ahead of the others in the 20-team table.
The matches dropping out of the rankings include the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019. England and New Zealand, who played an epic final at Lord’s four years ago, have both lost points in the annual update.
New Zealand are in fourth position but 11 points behind India at 104 after losing four points over the cycle. England, who will defend their World Cup title in India this year, have lost 10 points and are in fifth position with 101 points.
South Africa and Bangladesh retain sixth and seventh positions, respectively, while Afghanistan have overtaken former World champions Sri Lanka and the West Indies to grab eighth position. The top eight are the teams to have qualified directly for this year’s World Cup. (ANI)